Pretty darn great, that's what.
For someone who covers Japanese pop culture, seeing one's own work absorbed and digested by said culture is quite thrilling. Japanese Schoolgirl Confidential, my tome to the impact Japanese schoolgirls have made on the country's society and popular culture, has gone on sale in Japan.
I never intended the book solely for foreigners, nor is it intended solely for male readers — hence the reason why I wanted to work on the book with my better half. The goal was to examine a cultural phenomena and do it with insight and breadth and not simply slog something off superficially without fully understanding it. The book examines how Japanese schoolgirls have made an impact on everything from video games to fine art and why they appeal to women, men and children alike. And no, it's not *simply* that they are cute, and no, it's not *simply* about sex. There is far more at play.
Japanese site Akiba Blog (one of Japan's most popular blogs!) spotted Japanese Schoolgirl Confidential in Akihabara retailer K-Books. The shop had this cool display for it along with The Otaku Encyclopedia, which buddy Patrick Galbraith wrote. Both books were edited by Andrew Lee, who also designed my first book Arcade Mania!
Mr. Geek, who runs Akiba Blog, has been very supportive of the book — something that's truly appreciated. In his post, Mr. Geek links to a blog post by Yasuomi Umetsu, who has also been very supportive of this book and incredibly generous with his time. Umetsu is best known for the classic adult anime Kite. Kite influenced Quentin Tarantino during the making of Kill Bill. If you haven't seen Kite, please do.
I've been following Akiba Blog for years. The site does a fantastic job of covering what is going on in Akihabara, so to see something I wrote featured on the site was truly cool. Also, Umetsu! So awesome.
Japanese Schoolgirl Confidential will be released in The West this August. Facebook group is here.
Japanese Schoolgirl Confidential 「セーラー服女子高生は最高にクールだ！」 [アキバBlog]